Control apparatus.



A. J. HALL. CONTROL APPARATUS. APPLICATION man DEC. 1a. 19.

1,249,748. Patented Dec. 11,1917.

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INVENTOR J ATTORNEY WITNESSES UNITED STATES P r n T orrion.

an rnun q. HA'LL, or wIL rnsBURG, re msyivaa a ssrem ro WiisrINnoU-sn ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A .couronerron or rnnnssrrivamas CONTROL Assamese.

Specification of fetter-s Patent. Patented E 11', 7,

Application filed December 183-1914; Seria1 No;8/7,943.

T 0 all whom it may concern." 1

Be it known that I, ARTHUR J. IIALL, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of WVilkinsburg' in the county of Allegheny and State of "ennsylvania', have invented a new and useful Improvement in Control Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to control apparatus for electric motors and it has special relation to means for lubricating the contact segments of drum controllers and the like.

The object of my invention is to provide means, which shall be simple and inexpensive in construction and effectiveand reliable in operation, for disposing a desirable quantity of lubricating material on the contact segments of drum controllers during operation thereof.

According to my present invention, I provide, in combination with a drum controller of the usual type, means for disposing a lubricant-containing compressed gas on the contact segments, and interlocking means for permitting this disposal only when the con tactsegments are in motion.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a view, partially in section and partially in front elevation, of a drum controller constructed and equipped in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the structure shown in Fig; 1 Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view, in elevation, taken at right angles to Fig. 1; andFig. 4c is a fragmentary view illustrating a modification of a portion of thenapparati'isillustrated inlFig. l.

Referring to the drawing, the apparatus here shown comprises a suitable controllerincasing member 1 provided with a suitable top cover-member 2; a cont-roller drum of the usual type provided with a plurality of movable contact segments 3 and a plurality of corresponding control fingers at that are mounted upon a suitable finger-board 4 a lubricantcontaining vessel 5; a passage or pipe 6 for disposing lubricant uponthe contact segments 3 in a manner to bde'scribed; a fluid-pressure system 7 and mechanical interlocking means 8 that is associated with the controller drum and the fluid-pressure system 7 The contact segments 3 are preferably mounted upon, and suitably insulated from, a cent a ly dis osed shaft member 9, to the 'erence letters in Fig.

outer end of which; an operating handle 10 is secured, in accordance with customary 'p-ractice.-.- The lubricant-containing vessel 5 is provided, to a suitable level, with a qua-nt'ity of liquid lubricating material 11,- and a plurality of suitable filtering screens are disposed at appropriate intervals throughout the body of the liquid. The pi-pe6 extend-s substantially vertically alongside of the contact 'seginents'3', and is provided with a plurality of lubricant-ejecting openin'gsl3 opposite the respective contact segments.

The fluid-pressure, system 7 comprises a source of fluid pressure such as a tank 14, containing compressed 'air,'"a pipe or pa'ssage l5 connnunicating between the tank Il anda zp'ointbeneath the surface of the lubricating material 1 1, an'd a valve 16 that is interposed in the pipe 15'. The valve 16 may be of any familiar type and isbiased to a closed positionfor normallypreventingvthe access of fluid pressure to the lubricant containing vessel 5. A rod onpi-n 17 is adapted to operate the valve 16 when actuated by means ofacam plate 18 that is mounted upon the lower end of the controller shaft 9. The plate 18 is provided with a substantially circular periphery 19 havingnotches or recesses at a'plurality of points :20 that respectively correspond to the off and the several operating positions of the controller drum, as indicated by the-ref- Assuming the pin member 17 to be resting in the cam plate recess 20" that corresponds to the off position of the controller drum, the operation o fthe apparatus just described maybe set forth as follows:

Iflthe controller handle 10 is moved in a' clockwise direction, the cam plate 18 forces the pin member 17 to ride upon that portion cating material in the form of spray, is

ejected from the several openings 13 in the pipe 6 upon the several contact segments 3, just prior to the engagement therewith of the control fingers 4:. However, as soon as the first operative position of the controller drum is reached, the pin 17 of the valve 16 drops into the corresponding recess 20 in the cam plate 18, and the valve member '16 is thus again closed to prevent the further disposal of lubricating material on the contact segments. repeated as the controller drum is moved from one operative position to another.

Reference may now be made to Fig. 4, which, in addition to the controller drum, the lubricant-containing vessel 5 and the pipes 6 and 15, comprises an electrically interlocking member 21 and a normally closed valve member 16 that is interposed in the pipe 15. An outwardly-extending, movable projection 22 of the valve is adapted to act as the'core of an actuating coil 23 that may be connected through a pair of control fingers 24 bearing upon the'peripherally disposed contact segment 25 of the electrically interlocking member 21, the coil being energized from a battery (not shown) or in any other suitable manner.

The interlocking member 21 hasits con tact segment 25 provided with a plurality of openings or spaces 26 that are filled with insulating material, which iopenings or spaces respectively correspond to the OE and the operative positions of the controller drum and are collectively disposed in the plane of one of the control fingers 24.

A brief description of the operation of this modification of my invention is all that is necessary: The actuating coil 23 of the valve 16 is deenergized when the controller occupies its off position, and the :valve member l6 is thus closed. WVhen the controller drum is moved toward its first operative position, the contact segment 25 bridges the control fingers 24, thereby completing the energizing circuit of the actuating coil 23 and effecting the-opening of the valve 16 to permit the disposal of lubricating material on the contact segments 3, in a similar manner tothat described in connection with Fig. 1. When the controller drum reaches its first operative position, the circuit of the actuating coil 23 is interrupted at the corresponding opening 26 of the contact segment 25, and the valve is again closed. It will be appreciated that this operation is duplicated as the controller is moved through its successive operative positions.

I I do not wish to be restricted to the specific structural details or arrangement of parts herein set forth, as various modificationsthereofmay be made within the spirit Copies of this patent may be obtained for This operation is and scope of my invention. I desire, there fore, that only such limitations shall be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a plurality of cooperating stationary and movable contact members, of a lubricant-containing vessel, means for forcing a gas through the lubricant in said vessel and discharging it in the form of spray, against the contact surfaces of said movable member, and means for permitting said discharge only when the movable member occupies certain positions.

2. The combination with a rotatable controller drum provided with a plurality of contact segments, and a plurality of control fingers respectively cooperating therewith, of a lubricant-containing vessel, 21. source of compressed air, means for conducting the air through the lubricant and discharging it against the surfaces of the contact segments in the form of spray, a controlling valve disposed intermediate said source and said vessel, and interlocking means adapted to open said valve only when said controller drum occupies. certain positions.

3. The combination with a rotatable controller drum adapted to assume an off position and a plurality of operative positions and provided with a plurality .of contact segments, and a plurality of control fingers respectively cooperating therewith, I of a lubrica-ntpontaining vessel, a source of compressed air, a pipe for conducting the air beneath the surface of the lubricant, a second pipe having a plurality of openings respectively disposed adjacent to said contact segments to discharge lubricant, in th'e'form of spray against the contact surfaces adacent to said fingers, a valve disposed in said first pipe and normally biased toprevent the flow of air therethrough, and interlocking means actuated by the controller drum for actuating said valve to open posltion when the drum is being moved from its off? position to its first operatlve posltion and from one to another operative po- ARTHUR J. HALL.

WVitnesses: E. R. IRWIN, B. B.HINES.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

